Entwined - Cherie Colyer Page 0,2

it.” More dirt went in the hole.

“Who else wants it?”

Caden sighed and stepped on the loose dirt to mat it down. “Need-to-know basis, Madison.”

The dulcet taste of my magic morphed to copper as my curiosity turned into frustration. I zapped him with a gossamer bolt of energy.

His brow furrowed. “Did you just assault me with magic?”

“Trust me; if I assault you, it will be with something bigger and more powerful than that.” I folded my arms over my chest to keep from doing it again, because I wanted to, and I was pretty sure Caden wouldn’t tolerate a second attack. “Why am I here? You obviously didn’t need me to retrieve the chain.”

He stomped once more on the freshly disturbed soil. “I need you to make it so that no one knows we were here.”

My mouth fell open. “You want me to make the grass grow?”

“Grow and then die—it’s sort of brown.” He leaned against Vladimir’s headstone and indicated with a nod for me to get to work.

“This could have waited until after the basketball game, and don’t try to deny it.” I waved my hand over the gravesite, pushing out a little magic. The new grass—more brown than green—knitted together perfectly with its surroundings. “Happy?”

He studied the gravesite. “Yeah. That’s good.”

We headed back to the car. Frozen grass crunched under our shoes.

“Caden, promise me that the next time you need me to zap something for you, you’ll wait to get me until I’m alone.”

“Oh, come on!” He gave me a sideways glance. “Admit it. I’m much more exciting than Witch Boy.”

“Are not.” I skirted around a shade that drifted in my path. “I’m serious. This is the fifth time you’ve interrupted me and Isaac.”

“I know.”

I grabbed his wrist to get him to slow his pace. “You’re doing it to piss Isaac off, aren’t you?”

“Not really, but I do enjoy that little side perk of our relationship. Did you see his face?” Caden stopped walking to look at me—mouth pulled down into a stern scowl and eyes narrowed in hatred to mock Isaac—then he burst out laughing. “For a moment, I was afraid he’d explode. Was that potent stench of steel coming from him?”

“You know it was, and you should stop provoking him.”

“Like I said before, where’s the fun in that?”

I stalked ahead of him. For a creature that had been around for centuries, he had the maturity level of a six-year-old. He popped the trunk and dropped the shovel inside.

I tossed the flashlight in next to it. “Are all demons as childish as you?”

“You have to enjoy the little things in life: pissing off a witch, the company of a pretty girl, and French fries.”

“Don’t forget ice cream—it’s one of man’s finer delicacies,” a deep voice said from behind us. Caden froze, hands on the open trunk. “And then there’s greed, deception, and hatred, but humans don’t have the corner on that market. Do they?”

The guy looked to be in his early twenties. He was husky with broad shoulders, russet brown hair, and the type of smirk that screamed trouble. His angled nose and high cheekbones were a little too perfect, causing me to wonder if he was Fae and donning a glamour to hide his true appearance.

Caden slammed his trunk shut. “What do you want, Derek?”

“World peace.” Derek pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his coat and held it out to us, which made me rule out the possibility of him being Fae. Faeries didn’t smoke. When neither Caden nor I accepted his offer, Derek shrugged and tapped out a cigarette. The pack went back into his pocket. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“No.” Caden turned and nudged me backward toward the passenger side of the car.

Derek stepped closer. “What are you doing here, Caden?”

Digging for treasure, I thought snarkily.

Derek’s gaze snapped to me. Caden cursed. Over his shoulder I saw Derek’s lips curl around the cigarette hanging from his mouth. The tip glowed, lighting without the need of a match or a lighter. His eyes flashed red like Caden’s often did. And, like Caden, he could apparently read minds.

“You’re a demon,” I said before I could stop myself.

Derek spared me another brief smirk before holding up his hand and wiggling his fingers. “Give me the binding chain. I’ll give it to Alistair, and if you’re lucky, he’ll forget about you for a decade or so.”

“It wasn’t here,” Caden said with cool indifference.

He’s not lying. All we got for our trouble was a rusty